White House chief of staff John Kelly was furious at President Trump for siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin in denying there was Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to three sources.
Kelly called GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill to encourage them to speak out against Trump, the sources told Vanity Fair on condition of anonymity.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan held a televised press conference to confirm that they agreed with the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia did meddle in the election.
Kelly also reportedly told Trump the comments he made during the joint press conference in Helsinki on Monday would make things worse for him with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.
Trump backtracked on his comments in prepared remarks Tuesday, indicating that he misspoke in his press conference with Putin, and meant to say ‘’I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,” rather than that he didn’t “see any reason why it would be” Russia.
